1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for holding a portable telephone or a cellular phone and, more particularly, relates to a device for removably holding a cellular phone, used preferably but not exclusively in a passenger compartment of a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
Portable telephones including cordless phones, land mobile radiotelephones, personal handy phone systems, and transceivers have recently come into wide use and, thus, there are may different examples of the use of portable telephones. For example, the portable telephones are used by drivers and passengers in auto vehicles. However, it is usually difficult to obtain a mounting place suitable for stably holding a portable telephone set within a vehicle compartment. Thus, many devices have been provided to be attached to an appropriate position in a vehicle compartment in order to hold a portable telephone stably while the vehicle is moving and to permit a driver or a vehicle passenger to easily pick up the phone and to put it back.
Japanese Registered Utility Model Application No. 3017540 discloses a typical example of a conventional device for holding a portable telephone.
FIGS. 7A, 7B, and 8 illustrate the telephone holding device disclosed in Japanese Registered Utility Model Application No. 3017540.
As shown in FIG. 8, the conventional telephone holding device includes a holder member 1 and a base member 2. It will be understood from FIG. 7A that the holder member 1 has an upper plate member 1a and a lower plate member 1b connected to the upper plate member 1a by screws, a width adjusting arm 3 cooperating with a swing support 4, a holding button 5, and a stopper portion 6 to permit the portable telephone to be placed, in a standing position, therein. The portable telephone is laid on the upper plate member 1a and is stably held by the width adjusting arm 3 and the swing support 4 when it is not being used. The width adjusting arm 3 is arranged to be slidable within the holder member 1 so as to adjust the position of the arm 3 with regard to the holder member 1. The adjusted arm 3 can be fixed to the holder member 1 by screws (not shown). The swing arm 4 includes two support projections 4a and 4b integrally formed with a support arm 4c which is pivotally attached to the upper plate member 1a by a pin 7 as shown in FIG. 7b. The support arm 4c of the swing arm 4 is elastically urged by a spring 8 toward the opposite width adjusting arm 3 as shown by an arrow "A".
The holding button 5 is arranged to be projected from and retracted into the inside of the upper plate member 1a via a small window formed in the surface of the upper plate member 1a. The projection and retraction of the holding button 5 is operated by an activating mechanism arranged inside the holder member 1, so as to prevent or release the swinging motion of the width adjusting arm 3.
The stopper portion 6 is arranged to be turnable and to take either an outer position coming out of the inside of the holder member 1, or an inner position retracted into the inside of the holder member 1, via an aperture formed in one end of the upper plate member 1a. The stopper portion 6 is turned toward the outer position, when the holder member 1 is used in a substantially standing position, in order to vertically support the lower end of the portable telephone held in the holder member 1.
Referring to FIG. 8, the base member 2 is provided for fixing the holder member 1 to a desired mounting position within a vehicle compartment. The holder member 1 has a rear face 1b provided with a pair of engaging projections 10 which are engaged in a pair of receiving holes 11 formed in an upper face of the base member 2. When the engaging projections 10 are engaged in the receiving holes 11 of the base member 2, the holder member 1 is fixedly connected to the base member 2 which is suitably fixed to a desired position within a vehicle compartment.
In order to allow the holder member 1 to surely hold a portable telephone, a lateral space between the width adjusting arm 3 and the swing arm 4 of the holder member 1 must be preliminarily adjusted depending on the size of the telephone by adjustably shifting the width adjusting arm 3 against the swing arm 4 before the holder member 1 shown in FIG. 7A is fixed to the base member 2. After the adjustment of the space between the width adjusting arm 3 and the swing arm 4, when the portable telephone is placed on the holder member 1, the holding button 5 is pushed by the telephone toward inside the holder member 1 and, accordingly, the swing arm 4 is allowed to freely move. Therefore, the swing arm 4 is turned around the pin 7 toward the width adjusting arm 3 by the spring force of the spring 8. Thus, the portable telephone is resiliently held between the width adjusting arm 3 and the swing arm 4.
On the other hand, when the portable telephone is removed from the holder member 1, the telephone is moved by a telephone user to be laterally urged toward the swing arm 4, and to press the latter against the spring force of the spring 8. Therefore, the swing arm 4 is moved in a direction away from the width adjusting arm 3, and accordingly, the lateral space between the width adjusting arm 3 and the swing arm 4 is increased permitting the telephone to be easily taken out of the holder member 1. The removal of the portable telephone from the holder member 1 allows the holding button 5 to return to its position stopping the swing arm 4. As a result, the holder member 1 moves to a waiting position for receiving the portable telephone.
Nevertheless, the above-described conventional assembly of the telephone holder member 1 and the base member 2 has such a defect that when a different type of portable telephone having a different lateral width is to be held by the holder member 1, the lateral space between the width adjusting arm 3 and the swing arm 4 must be re-adjusted and fixed so as to be able to surely hold the different portable telephone. The adjusting and fixing of the width adjusting arm 3 requires cumbersome operation. For example, if a person who is a portable telephone user borrows a car from another person, and if he wishes to put his telephone on a holder member 1 attached to the borrowed car, he needs to adjust the width adjusting arm 3 of a holder member 1, so that the holder member 1 fits the size of his telephone.
Further, in the case of a business-use car or a rental car, many unspecified persons using different types of portable telephones may wish to put their telephones on the holding device attached to the business car or the rental car. As a result, the same problem as the above-mentioned adjusting problem occurs.
The above-mentioned adjusting problem might be solved by incorporating an electric motor and a position sensing devices into a device for holding a portable telephone. Namely, the incorporation of the electric motor and the position sensors will enable it to automatically adjust the lateral space between the width adjusting arm and the swing arm of the telephone holding device. Nevertheless, the use of the electric motor and the position sensors surely brings about an increase in the manufacturing cost of the telephone holding device. In addition, the use of the electric motor requires an electric power source. Thus, an additional load must be applied to a car battery.
Thus, a request has arisen for an improved portable telephone holding device to hold various portable telephones having various sizes without any cumbersome adjusting and fixing operations before the device is used for holding a portable telephone having a specified size.